Don Ledingham

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Posts referring to articles by Don Ledingham

Principles of Public Service - Can We Live Up to Them?
Overall, not a bad account, and roughly the standard I hold myself to (not so much the diagram, as it implies an unwholesome subservience to the organization, which is not always in the best interests of the public). Certainly, principles like selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honest and leadership are all values that inform my own position. Though I will say that these principles are descriptive, not normative. They do not define correct behaviour, they describe it, in broad overly general strokes. Don Ledingham, Don Ledingham's Learning Log, February 10, 2009.

Trends Shaping Education
Don Ledingham links to and summarizes a comprehensive OECD report on the state of learning in an uncertain world - though we must remember that OECD publications often represent a particular (market oriented point of view. Hence, we see Chapter 7 describe efforts to "roll back the welfare state" (as though that has ever really existed in practice". And in chapter 9 we see it asked "how well do young people balance their lives as learners in school with their lives as consumers?" Do have a look at this report, especially as regards the discussion on inequality - the last few pages observe, "the very rich are getting richer", and yet - somehow! - makes no connection between this and the degradation of the environment, the destruction of the economy, the relegation of individual lives to the status of "consumer". Don Ledingham, Don's Learning Blog, December 15, 2008.

Efficiency Savings
Everybody faces from time to time demands to make whatever they're doing more efficient. I am no supporter of wasted time and effort. But I always caution the people demanding greater efficiency. Imagine, I say to them, that you are at the top of a 20-story building. Standing by the window. You know the most efficient way to get back down to the bottom. Right? And sometimes, I conclude, some inefficiencies - some resistance and some friction - are exactly what are needed. The principle of efficiency, ruthlessly applied, inevitably leads to a fall. Don Ledingham, Learning Log, December 12, 2007.

The First Step On a Journey to Excellence?
The old Matt Groening cartoon in this post is worth the price of admission. The discussion surrounding the cartoon focuses on the question, "Would you sacrifice occasionally excellent for consistently good?" Like all hypotheticals, it assumes that both horns of the dilemma are attainable (I look for 'occasionally good' - anything else is a bonus). Anyhow, Don Ledingham writes, "we all too often in education - worldwide - conspire to 'protect' children from the impact of a weak teacher. Perhaps the first step we need to take on our 'Journey to Excellence' is to work together to ensure that no teacher could ever be descibed as being weak." I personally think that the whole 'excellent teacher' vs 'weak teacher' dialogue is misplaced. Mostly, people aren't generically 'excellent' or 'weak' - they have good days, they have bad days, they work well with some students and not so well with others. Don Ledingham, Don's Learning Blog, September 17, 2007.